Damage vs. Wear & Tear

Your landlord can't charge you for ordinary wear and tear. They can deduct repair costs only for damage beyond that, such as damage caused on purpose or by unusual use, and only if your lease allows it. They can't take deductions at all while you still live there.

Even when a deduction is allowed, courts have limited landlords to the depreciated value of what was damaged, not the price of something new. The landlord also has to prove every deduction. A deduction that doesn't hold up may count as money wrongfully kept.

Whether something counts as wear and tear depends on the age and condition of the unit when you moved in, and on what your lease says. Small details, like a photo, a date or a clause, can decide it.

The full legal analysis

Deductions for Repairs

A landlord bears the cost of repairing "damage to vital facilities caused by ordinary wear and tear." Marini v. Ireland, 56 N.J. 130, 144 (1970). See generally Packer v. Kone, No. A-3501-21 (App. Div. Nov. 15, 2023) (slip op. at 7) (quoting Braem v. Wash. Piece Dye Works, 100 N.J.L. 209, 210-11 (Sup. Ct. 1924)) (finding that "reasonable wear and tear" is relative to "the 'nature, quality, and the condition' of the premises when the lease was executed"). See also ibid. (citing Braem, 100 N.J.L. at 210-11) (finding that "[a] tenant [may] make physical changes to leased property [that are] reasonably necessary for use under the circumstances, subject to any valid agreement otherwise").

Conversely, a tenant is liable for repairs, and a landlord may deduct the cost of such repairs, "[w]here damage has been caused maliciously or by abnormal or unusual use." Marini, 56 N.J. at 144. Even so, courts have found that a landlord may recover only the depreciated value of what was damaged, not the cost of a new replacement. See, e.g., Adinolfi v. Mullen, No. A-2118-17 (App. Div. Feb. 4, 2019) (affirming a deduction of $183, "representing the value of a six-year-old cork floor").

Furthermore, a landlord may otherwise deduct charges from a security deposit only where "in accordance with the terms of a contract, lease, or agreement," and may not deduct them at all from the deposit of "a tenant who remains in possession of the rental premises." N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1. The landlord bears the burden to prove its entitlement to any deduction. See Veliz v. Meehan, 258 N.J. Super. 1, 5 (App. Div. 1992).